(1) Field of the Invention
The invention is based on an accelerator pedal module for controlling the output of a driving engine of a motor vehicle.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
To control the output of a driving engine of a motor vehicle, the demand made by the vehicle driver must be transmitted to the driving engine by a pedal lever disposed in the region of the vehicle driver. In conventional motor vehicles, this transmission is normally effected with the aid of mechanical transmission means. The mechanical transmission means are for instance a rod linkage or a Bowden cable. In these versions., there is a sensor that measures the position of the pedal lever. Measured values from this sensor are transmitted to the driving engine for the sake of controlling the engine.
Until now, the sensor has been supported in a common housing together with the restoring spring assembly (such as DE 34 11 393 A1; EP-A 00 92 640; WO-A 89/07706; WO-A 91/04165). In addition, the common housing often also includes a kickdown mechanism and an end switch, as well as various friction elements and springs that act on the friction elements. In these versions, the wiper of the sensor, the restoring springs, the springs for the friction elements, and parts of the kickdown mechanism are supported on a common shaft. Since along with the sensor various other components are also disposed in the housing, adapting to vehicle-specific differences entails major effort and expense. Since there are many different vehicle-specific demands, there are many different variant embodiments. In the known version, simple adaptation to different vehicle-specific pedal travel distances is not possible unless the entire structural unit that contains the sensor is modified. Moreover, because the housing is rather large, the sensor can normally not be disposed within a range of the driver's foot.